Historical marker recognizes former Polk Street schools

Wednesday

When Bob Brady used to drive by the corner of 12th Avenue and Polk Street, he could remember where Amarillo High School once stood but only saw a parking lot.

Now when he cruises by, he will see a Texas historical marker dedicated to three schools that once stood there.

"It doesn't matter what kind of situation you're in, if you drive by, all these thoughts come back from all the years past," said Brady, who graduated from Amarillo High School in 1954 along with his wife, Virginia, although they did not meet until much later.

The Amarillo High School 50th Alumni Association Historical Monument Committee dedicated the marker Wednesday before a crowd full of Amarillo High School alumni. The monument pays homage to not only Amarillo High, but the Red Brick School, built in 1900, and then Central High School, later Elizabeth Nixson Junior High, in 1922.

The committee worked for about four years to make the marker a reality, said Bob Damon, a 1953 Amarillo High grad who serves as committee chairman.

"It really gives me a great deal of pride to see the final product," Damon said. "I believe its value is not only to downtown Amarillo but to all the citizens who attended schools here or who can come in the future and read about it and feel a lot of what we felt."

The original Red Brick School was built on the site in 1900, he said. Amarillo High School moved in 1973 to its current location at 4225 Danbury St.

A fire heavily damaged the downtown high school in 1970, but it held classes for three years afterward, Damon said.

He said the marker project cost about $55,000 and was paid for with various private funds, including money from Amarillo College and Center City, which presented a $10,000 check for the project at the dedication.

Amarillo College President Paul Matney graduated from the school in 1967. He said he was pleased to see several generations of Amarillo High graduates at the ceremony and have the chance to discuss memories of the old school.

"I just have tremendous memories of Amarillo High School; back in those days it was 10th, 11th and 12th grades," Matney said. "It was just a grand building, a tremendous, beautiful building."

The parking lot where the monument sits is now Amarillo College property, Matney said.

Beth Duke, executive director of Center City, said the monument fits well with the city's downtown revitalization efforts.

"We're preserving history and also making downtown look better," she said.

Duke said the monument also is important to maintain the legacy of the downtown schools for future generations.

"In a generation or so, people might not remember there was a high school here. It was a big part of Amarillo life and a big part of downtown," she said. "Now they'll have a monument when they come back for reunions or maybe for a visit and they'll remember that this was the original site of Amarillo High."

The site has been designated a state historical landmark by the Texas Historical Commission in Austin.

Brady, 76, said the monument means a lot to him because he and his six siblings all graduated from the downtown school, and his mother graduated from the Red Brick School in 1917.

"We enjoyed our years at the school very much. ... We truly enjoyed being here," he said.

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